Shoe-lacing.



N 869,346. PATENTED 001?. 29. 1907.

- A. CALDWELL & e. F. DREW.

SHOE LAGING.

APPLIOATION FILED MAY 5. 1906.

IS. 2, IE. E5. 113, '7. F l" /N VENTURE.

UNITED STATES PATENT OEElCE.

ALFRED CALDWELL, OF PROVIDENCE .Rl'lODE ISLAND, AND GEORGE F. DREW, OF BRUNSWICK, MAINE, ASblGNORS OF ONF llllltl) TO .I. "lNTO-N DART AND GEORGE H. REMINGTON OF PROVIDEXOE, RHODE ISLAND.

SHOE-LACING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 29, 1907.

Application filed May 5, 1906. Serial No. 315.455.

'10 (Lll- 'zchom it may concern:

B e it known that we, Amman Cxirnw rctrr and G none n .F. DREW, citizens of the United States of America, and residents, respectively, of Providence, in the county of Providence and State of llhode island, and of ln'uns wick, in the county of Cumberland and State of Maine, have invented certain new and useful lmprovements in Slroe-lracings, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to a new and novel type of shoedacing, the same being produced front comparatively r'rarrow strips of woven fabric or cloth, as distinguished from lacings in which the several threads thereof are interlaced or braided together by means of braiding-machines.

The object of our invention is to produce a flexible shoe iaee, or other analogous article. possessing greater strength and durability and in which the cost of manufacture is reduced, as compared with flat or hollow braided shoe-lacings such as are usually employed. Our improved shoelace when in service also possesses the following additional advantages: It lies more smoothly and closely to the shoe-upper, therefore ity is less conspicuous; it. is less liable to become crimpcd or upi 'ardly curled along its longitudinal edges; it does not materially contract in width nor elongate in length; it is not liable to get caught on the edge of the lacinghooks and is waterproof.

In the production of our improved shoe-lacing we preferably take a bolt or cut of black or other suitably-dyed comparatively strong and thin woven cloth having say the qualit y and width of ordinary sheet ings or print goods. suitable machine which nnwinds and cuts or slits the same into a number of comparatively narrow strips having say uniform width, each being about one inch wide, or as determined by the style of lacing desired. The said strips of fabric are next passed through a corribined folding, cementing and compressing device whereby the outer et'lge portions of each strip are first int urned and folded inwardly or b-.u:k\\'ardly rrpon itself to produce a plurality of superimposed plies, the then outer or exposed edges of the thus-folded, and correspondingly narrower, strip being uonravelable. r\t substantially the same time. too, the strips of fabric are coated or treated with any suitable absorbent thin The said web of cloth is subjected to a cementing medium, followed by feeding the thusfolded and prepared stock between the faces of revolving compressing rolls. The thus produced long is a cross-sectional view of one of the strips taken on line .1 of Fig. 3. enlarged, and corresponding with the scale of Fig. i. Fig. 5 represents said strip having its longitudinal edges infolded, or two-ply. Fig. (3 is a similar view, showing the same strip folded into a four-ply member and being uncompressed, the scale corresponding with Fig. 2. Fig. 7 is a sectional view. similar to Fig. (3, greatly enlarged, and Figs 8 and 9 represent; enlarged cross-sectional views. corresponding with Fig. 7, except that the stock folded to form two and three plies, respectively.

Again referring to the drawings. A, Fig. l, designates a s' oe-lace embodying our improvement. The body portion a, comprising a plurality of plies, is produced or formed by suitably folding an integral strip (2 of woven fabric, the ends being reduced and stiffened by the employment of n'ietal tips I in a well-known manner. The said strips are cut from a web of cloth I), substantially as indicated in Fig. I}.

We would state that for the sake of clearness in the drawings the thickness of the stock and lacing as represented is materially exaggerated, the actual thickness of tie finished lacing not exceediin ay two to three ()lit i-lliUlltttlLl .s of an inch. The strip c (Figs. 3 and f) is first folded by suitable means to about one-half its width tlius making it two-ply as indicated at c Fig. 5, and then re-folded, or four-ply, as represented at I bet-ween revolving rolls, and subsequently severed into tle proper lengths and tipped, the body or flexible portion of too finish ed lacing being indi -ated by a.

The lacing (I may consist of two or three thicknesses or plies c, as indicated in enlarged s ale in Figs. 8 and 9. in any event, however, we prefer to so fold the stock bonded together and both longitudinal edges formed by tl; at the rough or normally ravelable longitudinal. edges 1 f H Sill! O tlrereof will be concealed or at least protedtecl and rendered non-ravelable. The preparation above referred 5 to may consist of a thin solution of rubber cement.

We claim as our invention and desire to secure by United States Letters Patent:-

A flat shoe lacing consisting of a length of woven mate- Witnesses to signature of George F. Drew:

10 rial foltlecl longitudinally upon itself a plurality of times Annnnnnr J. HU'rcHiNsoN,

throughout its entire extent, said lacing having its plies 'lnrmux E. Cmus'roinncu.

ALFRED CALDWELL. GEORGE F. DREV.

Witnesses to signature of Alfred Caldwell:

G120 H. REMINGTON, HENRY l". S'roxme 

